Lassez Le Bon Temp Roulet
by TheYoungTimpani
Summary: Abby throws a Mardi Gras party for the team. Not much to say...romance ensues. TIVA!


**Lassez Le Bon Temp Roulet**

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**Disclaimer:** I don't own NCIS...sadness...

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**Author's Note:** Thank you sweet baby Jesus! (and Ricky Bobby). They got FF fixed in time for me to post my Mardi Gras fiction! Yay! Mardi Gras!

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Tony, Ziva, and McGee all stood in the elevator at the end of the day, waiting for it to reach the bottom floor.

"Does anyone know why Abby's invited us all over tonight?" McGee asked, looking at the ceiling.

"Something about a party," Tony said, reaching over to flick at his partner's hair.

"At least it wasn't a concert," Ziva said, swatting Tony's hand away. He smirked and she gave him a frustrated look. McGee kept avoiding eye contact with the others; if he looked at them, he wouldn't be able to resist laughing at how obvious they were.

As they split up to go to their cars, Tony called after Ziva, "Hey, ninja, you want a ride tonight?"

She smiled and obliged; McGee could only roll his eyes. _Very subtle, DiNozzo._

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When Tony got to his apartment, he realized that he needed to hurry and change if he was going to pick up Ziva before going to Abby's house.

He ran into his room and dug through his closet for something that looked decent and clean. It was a dark green button-front shirt with lighter green pinstripes and a metallic gold crown on the left shoulder. _Why haven't I worn this? _He changed into the shirt and a pair of tastefully faded jeans.

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Ziva checked the clock when she got into her apartment and swore when she realized that Tony would be there soon. She rushed to her closet and blindly pulled out a sweater. It was one of her new sweaters with the big collars and it was a shade of deep violet. She put it on with a pair of tight khaki pants and tall boots.

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McGee laughed at the thought that his colleagues were so oblivious as he unlocked his door. He paused to look around and thought about what he would wear tonight. _At least I'm not panicked about this. I bet Tony and Ziva are spazzing out._ McGee laughed again as he went to his closet and pulled a mustard colored shirt and a pair of jeans to wear to Abby's

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Tony looked at his reflection, taking in his entire appearance. He had meticulously spiked his hair. It looked perfect. Or did it? _What's that? Why is my hair doing that? Why can't I make it do anything?! God! Why am I so worried about my looks tonight. I didn't care at any of Abby's other parties._

When he was finally satisfied with his hair, he adjusted the collar of his shirt over and over again. Trying to achieve the perfect look, even though he knew it would be ruined the moment he put on his seat belt.

He finally sprayed his clothes with a masculine smelling body spray, guaranteed to attract women.

_Why am I going through all this effort? It's just going to be me, Abby, McGee, maybe Palmer, Gibbs and Ducky...and Ziva. Damn it! That's it! Why am I so worried about what I look like for Ziva. She sees me every freaking day. What's tonight going to matter?_

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When Tony got to Ziva's she was debating on how to wear her hair. She had pulled it up and let it back down at least six times in the past ten minutes. She finally settled on wearing it down and neatly messy...if that was possible. _What is wrong with me? It never takes me this long to get ready. And it's just Abby's party. It's not like I'm going out anywhere. Here in a minute, Tony will be here and we'll go to Abby's. Nothing fancy, just Abby's...I wonder if Tony prefers my hair up or down? God! That's what this is all about! Tony! Why do I care how Tony likes my hair? It's not like I...Why should I care about how Tony likes my hair?_

In McGee's apartment, he ran a comb through his short hair and smiled into the mirror. _Smooth, McGee. Let them freak out about each other. You won't catch me freaking out over some girl...I wonder if Abby will like this shirt? No! Focus, McGee! You will not fall into this pit! For once in your life, you will be smoother than DiNozzo._

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McGee smiled back into his mirror and left his apartment.

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Tony knocked on Ziva's door and she ran to open it.

"Hey, Ziva. Ready to go?" Tony said, smiling when he saw her.

"Yeah, let's go," she followed him out the door and shut it behind her.

He led her to his car and he opened the door for her before he walked over to get in the driver's seat.

Tony and Ziva pulled up at Abby's at the same time as McGee. They all got out at the same time.

Tony offered his arm to Ziva, who gladly accepted it.

They looked at Abby's house. It looked different. The sidewalk was lined with multi-colored lights and the windows were covered in thin paper and glowed purple. From inside you could hear music, but it didn't sound like Abby's usual music.

"You guys coming?" McGee asked the pair as he took a few cautious steps toward their friend's house.

"Yeah, we're coming," Tony called back as he led Ziva up to the door.

"McGee!" Abby screamed as she launched herself at McGee when he walked through the door.

"Tony! Ziva!" she engulfed them in the same hug.

Abby stepped back to look at the three and said, "Did you guys plan your outfits?!"

"What?" Tony asked, looking from his green shirt to Ziva's purple sweater to McGee's yellow shirt.

"Look around," Abby said.

They did. From the ceiling there were green, purple, and yellow streamers; strands of green, purple, and yellow lights dangled overhead; in fact, just about everything in the room was green, purple, or yellow.

Abby looked back at the group and apparently noticed Tony and Ziva's interlocked arms.

"Aww! You guys are too cute!" she squealed, hugging them again.

"Abby, we're not-" but before Ziva could finish, Abby bounced away to talk to Ducky.

"It's Mardi Gras," McGee stated, looking at the masquerade masks on the wall.

"What is Mardi Gras?" Ziva asked.

"It's one of those holidays that is religious based, but now people don't always associate it with religion. The Catholics use it as a final feast day before they start to fast or give stuff up for Lent," Tony explained, leading her away from the door.

"Why would you give something up for lint?" Ziva asked.

"Not that kind of lint, ninja. Lent with an e, not an i," he laughed, "It;s the forty days leading up to Easter. It's supposed to represent the forty days that Jesus spent in the desert being tempted by Satan."

"Sometimes I forget you were raised Catholic," she smiled.

"That makes one of us," he laughed, rubbing one of his hands, "Tina Fey is right about nuns. They could kill a man with those damn rulers."

She looked at him strangely.

"Okay, there was a lot in that sentence that you might not have understood, so let's just pretend I didn't say it," he laughed.

She just smiled at him.

For the next few hours, Tony and Ziva stood together talking and joking. Occasionally, Palmer, McGee, or Ducky would come over and they would make small-talk. From time-to-time, Gibbs would give them a glare from across the room. Tony wrapped his arms around Ziva's waist and they stood there like it was nothing new.

From the kitchen, Abby shouted, "Time to cut the King Cake!"

"What is a 'King Cake'?" Ziva asked, as she led Tony over to the table.

"It's uh..." Tony started, but didn't really know where to begin.

"I'll tell!" Abby shouted.

"Probably for the best," Tony whispered in Ziva's ear.

"The King Cake is a ring of twisted bread covered in glaze and, this one at least, stuffed with cream cheese. The cake is in a ring to represent the path the wise men took to get to the Christ Child. They took a circle so that King Herod would have more trouble finding where they were going, because they totally couldn't have just followed the star like the wise men were doing, whatever. Anyways! Inside the cake is a tiny plastic baby representing baby Jesus. He's hidden in the cake to represent the way the Jesus was hidden from Herod, who was trying to kill him. How could you kill a baby? I mean, I don't care if he is threatening your rule and the son of God, he's a _baby_! Anyways, if you find the baby you are king for the day and you'll have good luck in the coming year, but on the downside, you have to bring the King Cake to next year's party," Abby said.

"This sounds more like a Christmas thing, Abby," McGee questioned.

"It was originally for Epiphany, but in the United States its more of a Mardi Gras thing," Abby explained.

"Is there any particular reason for the colors?" Ziva asked.

"The green symbolizes faith," Abby smiled at Tony, who looked down at his green shirt.

"The gold symbolizes power," Abby almost laughed at McGee in his gold shirt.

"And the purple symbolizes justice," she gave a look to Ziva and her purple sweater.

"So are we gonna eat this cake any time soon?" Tony asked as he caught the magnificent smell of the cake.

"Yeah," Abby smiled and then cut the cake up into pieces for everyone and handed them out.

After receiving their cake, everyone separated out. Tony and Ziva went over to one side of the room and were eating their cake. To mess with her, Tony reached over and got a forkful of her cake. Before he ate it, he looked it over and threw it down, "Damn it!"

"What is it?" Ziva asked, looking at him strangely.

"Ziva's got the baby!" he shouted.

"Wait! What?!" she looked at the bite of cake Tony had thrown down, "I don't think so! It's in Tony's bite!" she shouted out.

"Guys!" Abby squealed, running over to the couple, "You both found the baby!"

They both silently cursed, but Abby never noticed as she ran back across the room.

When she came back, she had a gold-colored plastic crown and a flag. The flag had three vertical stripes of purple, yellow, and green. On the yellow stripe was a purple crown.

Abby ran over and put the crown on Ziva's head and tied the flag around Tony's neck. Then announced, "We have our Mardi Gras king and queen!"

Tony and Ziva mumbled and stuttered, trying to reject Abby's "awards". Gibbs gave them a look and a microscopic smirk. McGee was holding in laughter. Palmer smiled a little. Ducky gave a hearty chuckle and smiled at them.

"You both get to bring the cake next year," Abby said proudly before marching away.

After a while, Ducky left, then Gibbs, and then Palmer. Finally, it was just Abby, McGee, Ziva, and Tony.

"You know what we should do?" Abby slurred, "We should dance!"

"Uh, Abby, I don't know if that's a good idea," McGee cautioned.

"Oh, come on, Timmy!" she begged, going over to her stereo and putting on a CD.

Some zydeco jazz started playing and Abby dragged McGee out to the middle of her living room floor to dance.

"Shall we dance, my queen?" Tony asked dramatically, bowing to Ziva.

"I'm not even sure how you dance to this," Ziva smiled, watching Abby drunkenly stumble around as McGee held her up.

"Only way to learn is to try," Tony smiled at her, taking her hand and leading her onto the floor as well.

_Down in New Orleans_

_I hard a catfish shout _

_And I asked that cat what it was all about._

_He said, "Come on, baby, let me straighten you out! _

_Parlez vous Creole?" _

Tony held Ziva's hands and danced in an exaggerated swinging style with her. The flag that was still around his neck got tangled up in his legs and he fell backwards onto the floor, pulling her with him.

He landed on his back with Ziva on top of him.

"Why does this seem so familiar?" he teased.

She smiled and laughed, "I bet you wish it was a whole lot more familiar."

"You're damn right I do," he blurted out before he could stop himself.

She just looked at him.

"I didn't mean that in a bad way, Ziva. I just meant that you are absolutely gorgeous and magnificent and wonderful and-"

She put a finger to his lips to cease his rambling, "I don't mind," she whispered with a smile.

He was speechless, so she kept talking, "I wish it was more familiar, too," she said with an evil grin.

"How 'bout we make it?" he offered, reflecting her smile.

"I like that idea," she replied, pushing up off of his body and standing up, then reaching down to help him up.

_Lassez le bon temp roulet, oui;_

_Means: let the good times roll, yeah! _

Tony smiled at her and they stood there, looking at each other for a moment.

He held his jaw in his hands and whispered, "Kiss me, my queen?"

Before she could respond, his lips were on hers. Gently and slowly, she responded and kissed him back.

He put his hands on her hips and she moved hers up to tangle in the hair along his neck. His tongue ran along her lips lightly and she parted them, deepening the kiss. She let out a little groan and he smiled into the kiss. Finally, they had to separate for air, but not before Abby and McGee had noticed them.

"I knew it," McGee smirked.

Tony and Ziva jumped a little and glared at their coworker.

"Awww. You guys are so cute together," Abby said, drunkenly.

Tony and Ziva smiled and he wrapped his arms tightly around her.

"Ready to go?" Tony whispered in her ear.

"Your place or mine?" she whispered back, with a grin.

"I like the way you think," he smiled back, "Your's is closer."

"Mine it is," she replied.

"Hey, we're gonna be leaving," Tony called over to McGee and Abby.

"Bye," Ziva waved as they headed out the door.

McGee waved at the couple.

"Bye guys!" Abby shouted as the door shut.

Out on the lawn, Tony grabbed Ziva and pulled her to him again.

He held her flush against his body and leaned down to give her another kiss.

"I think I love you, Queen Ninja," he smiled, resting his forehead against hers.

"I feel the same way, King Hairybutt," she chuckled, catching his lips one more time.

As they stood there on Abby's yard, they could still hear the music.

_Lassez le bon temp roulet, oui;_

_Means: let the good times roll, yeah! _

_Let the good times roll!_

_Creole! _

_All night long! _

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**A.N.: **The song is _Let the Good Times Roll Creole _by Memphis Slim. The lyrics aren't anywhere on the internet so I had to write them down myself (it sucked).

Okay! Happy Mardi Gras to everyone! Lassez le bon temp roulet!

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